


Loving Him

by Rollinginthesheep



Category: One Direction (Band), Taylor Swift (Musician)
Genre: AU, F/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-31
Updated: 2013-07-31
Packaged: 2017-12-21 23:05:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/906017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rollinginthesheep/pseuds/Rollinginthesheep
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I love you. Three words. Eight letters. </p>
<p>I loved Harry Styles. </p>
<p>Harry Styles loved me. </p>
<p>That was all I needed to know. </p>
<p>It was the one thing no one could take from us.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Loving Him

_I love you._

Three words. Eight letters. Yet they have the power to define and change a relationship forever. They can destroy the naivety of a new found relationship or remind a fighting couple that they still have one magical thing to hold onto. 

They can bond a family unconditionally, through tantrums and tears, Christmas dinners and Easter mornings. From the day a child is born to the last time a parent farewells them before leaving earth. 

_I love you._

I remember the first time Harry Edward Styles uttered those three words to me. It was dark, and all I could see were his vivid green eyes as we sat in the chilly car, parked in front of his house. We’d just been out to dinner when we’d been ambushed by fans and paparazzi alike. I was use to the flashes of cameras. 

The shouting of abusive fan girls? 

Not so much. 

Ever since murmurs of Harry and I’s relationship had hit the public both of us had faced hate, jealousy and numerous other opinions from other people who seemed to believe they knew us because they knew how we looked with ten pounds of cosmetics and fixed lighting upon us on stage. 

We are musicians. Yes. But you can never truly know someone until they stand by you in the worst part of a storm. 

Harry had been my rock. 

He had been hesitant to comment on our relationship at first as he knew any mutter he made would be analysed to the extent someone would be when up for murder charges. In the eyes of some girls the crime I had committed was far worse than murder. 

I had fallen in love with their idol. 

Yes. I loved Harry as well. 

Any girl would be a fool not to love him. And a fair few males according to some rumors. 

The way he walked into a room and immediately drew every gaze to his form with a beaming, cheeky, dimpled smile. How he laughed as though each joke he heard was the first and how he sung like a weathered man whom was serenading his long time love. 

Loving Harry Styles was easy. 

But having Harry love you back? That was a whole other ballpark. 

Harry had been hurt several more times than he’d like to admit by those who he had given his heart to before. Every girl he merely looked twice at was sent horrid threats and messages. It scared off many girls not willing to face the challenge of dating such a high profile man. He wasn’t always that high profile man. He was once a wide-eyed boy whom had ruffled curls and stole the hearts of many along with his attractive and admirable band mates to sail to stardom. But much like my own journey they didn’t quite realize the price of fame until they had paid it in full. 

Fans were amazing. The boys knew this. Performing on a stage with people screaming out the song words alongside you is the most amazingly inspiring thing one can do. It was a natural drug. 

I knew this feeling very well, from the countless cities I’d performed in. 

But Harry and his friends had a different path to fame than mine. They didn’t just become stars. They became heartthrobs. The guys every girl would kill to date, every guy grudgingly would want to be to gain such attention. It was easy to become enthralled by them. They oozed presence. No wonder so many of their fans were as possessive of them as they were. 

I can remember how stars truck I had been when I first met them all. When I first laid eyes on Harry. 

_When they were performing their hit song ‘what makes you beautiful’ I had danced like a silly schoolgirl alongside Selena and my other friends. I couldn’t help it. The song made you feel like you were as beautiful as the lyrics claimed. As perfect as they claimed you were._

_I knew from the moment I saw Harry singing on stage I was going to have to meet him. My heart had fluttered for the first time in a long time at the sight of a guy. I’d been around many, many attractive guys through my time in the music industry. But Harry was something else. He was naturally beautiful, he oozed confidence. He seemed to take a spotlight without realizing it and you couldn’t help but desire to be in the spotlight with him, even if it risked everything you had built yourself up for. It didn’t matter as long as you had him. His eyes on you._

When we had first met, I felt like the duck footed fifteen year old I use to be all over again. Clumsy and tripping over my words. I had blushed when he had given me a dimpled smile. 

“I saw you dancing. You have moves Swift.” He grinned. I had flushed so hard that I resisted the temptation to let the ground swallow me there. It was times like that I had needed the helpful trap door my stage usually offered in between set-lists. 

I had composed myself thankfully, much to the amusement of Justin and Selena who were laughing from their position a few feet behind Harry. I wanted to glare at them but I knew that would attract Harry’s attention so I had merely managed a small smile at him, avoiding his overly green eyes. Genetics had been good to him that was for sure. 

“Thank you Harry, but I have to say I only dance to good music.” I responded lightly and he had continued to grin at me. It took all I had not to squeal at the return of the familiar butterflies I hadn’t felt since I had first met Jake all that time ago. 

We had interacted briefly over the next month. But life had gotten in the way, as it always did. He’d gone on to date a model or two, according to the vapidly curious headline paparazzi and I had met Conner. I could remember the moment I had seen him, how parallel his green eyes and curls had been to Harry’s. I admit now it was part of the reason I had fallen for him. 

But Conner, despite his family connections had lacked the understanding of what it was like to date a high profile person. He had school and I was constantly travelling to promote my new album. We had drifted apart and split on amicable terms. I think now he realized. That from the beginning I had belonged to someone else. He could tell the reason my eyes lit up when I wrote a message to Harry on my phone or when he sent back an appropriate cat picture with some funny caption that always managed to make me giggle like a madwoman. 

Conner was a dog person. I was a cat person. It just wasn’t meant to be. 

Harry had admitted that he had thought similar. He had comforted me via message and skype and offered what support he could. It was then I had seen past the attractive man I had met at the kids choice awards. I saw someone who I could lean on in times of hardship. Someone I could depend on. Someone who understood. 

_“Time heals everything Taylor, there’s not much else I can say. I’m sorry.” He had murmured on the phone as I had shifted from my place in a stiff hotel bed somewhere in Paris._

_“No, you are right. Time heals all.” I had responded softly as I eyed the paper airplane necklace we had both brought to signal our long distance friendship. I think it was long before this I had truly fallen for him. So when he wanted to meet up when we were in New York I jumped at the chance. At the time I was foolish to think that it wouldn’t cause such a fuss. I hadn’t witnessed such an onslaught of hatred as I had at the beginning. But as Harry and I came closer and closer and we finally admitted that we felt something there, the hate didn’t matter as much._

But I wouldn’t lie and say I didn’t care. 

Harry knew I did. He had held me so many times at the beginning when I had read the latest comment someone had dared to tag me in on twitter. People who didn’t know me, they didn’t know Harry despite their usernames claiming to be married to him. 

Harry adored his fans. But whenever he even saw a mention of hatred he’d close up and his jaw would tighten.

He knew management didn’t like them openly shooting down fans. But Harry had anyway. In an interview just before new years he had the gall to tell fans that ‘despite his thankfulness of their loyal support he wanted them to realize he was happy with Taylor Swift and yes he was dating her and that meant they should realize that he was happy.’ It was far more long winded and far more polite than that but the message got across. 

Many believed I had him on a leash. But Harry wasn’t one to be tamed. He wanted something, he’d have it. He didn’t do what people told him unless it was something he desired to do.

Harry was someone who knew their own worth and didn’t let themselves be used. I knew that better than anyone. Watching him stand in front of thousands and perform as though he was singing for each of them individually. Watching as he’d grin up at me when I failed at skiing in Utah. His wide eyes as I had kissed him for the first time in public. And his hungry response to that kiss. 

Being touched by Harry was something that would haunt me for the rest of my life. But knowing he loved me would haunt me for much longer. 

It had been in his car, in front of his house the first time he said those three words. Those eight letters. 

_I had been crying._

_A fan of his had said something that hit close to home about my relationship with Joe and Jake and Taylor. Harry hadn’t spoken the whole way home._

_I knew it._

_This was the moment he realized how much baggage I had, how much of a burden I was on his image, his career and his relationship with his fans. This was when he would leave. I would write a song. And everyone would say ‘I told you so’ in their smug tones._

_He had turned to me and I met his gaze unconsciously. His green eyes sparkled at me with restrained emotion that had me awed for a moment, similar to the moment I had first met him._

_I couldn’t hold his gaze, that emotion had me staring at my hands as they fidgeted in my lap._

_“Taylor.” He had murmured. I couldn’t look at him._

_“Taylor, look at me.” He repeated in a firmer tone and I glanced up at him, preparing myself for the fallout that my music was oh-so-famous for.”Fuck them.”He said simply._

_What?_

_“What?” I had uttered in response, ignoring that familiar tinge of embarrassment that came from Harry saying fuck. I wasn’t a prude or anything but there was something weird about seeing such a baby face swearing._

_“Fuck them Taylor. They don’t know you. They don’t know us. They don’t know how amazing you are and how much I’ve wanted you from the moment I met you.” He said and I felt my eyes sting as they watered up. He grabbed my fidgeting hands._

_“What if they are right though? What if this is doomed to end? What if I screw it up by doing something wrong? What if the distance is too much? What if some other girl is prettier and more likable than me and she swoops in and you forget about me?” I found myself ranting as I cried. I couldn’t help it. All my fears, worries and everything that had left me scarred from the end of my previous relationships bubbled to the surface._

_Harry gazed at me in silence for a moment longer before singing. “Don’t you worry your pretty little mind, people throw rocks at things that shine.”He sung one of my song lyrics and I couldn’t help the strangled laugh that escaped my throat despite the struggle to breathe from my worked up emotional state._

_“Harry, I mean it!” I exclaimed and he brushed one of my curls off my wet cheek._

_“And I mean it too! Screw them Taylor. I couldn’t forget you for a moment. I mean you and Meredith are my wallpaper on my phone and you know how often I’m on that thing!” He replied and I resisted the childish urge to roll my eyes at such a response. I knew Harry was trying to cheer me up but I needed to know now if what I felt was one-sided. I needed to know if it was worth it all to be with him. Worth the hate, the tears, the distance and everything in between._

_He took a breath and pulled me into a hug and I shut my eyes, savoring his familiar scent and warmth. It calmed me in a way words couldn’t._

_“I love you so much Taylor. They can’t take that away from you or me. I promise you that.” He said and I froze for a moment against his chest. I pulled away from his embrace and glanced up at him._

_“You love me?” I asked as I searched his gaze for denial, for some response I was being delusional in hearing these words._

_“That’s what I said Swift.” He shot back with a smirk and I laughed shakily still half-crying as I smacked my hand against his chest in mock-annoyance at his response._

_“I love you too you idiot.” I replied and he grinned at me, dimples and all._

I love you. Three words. Eight letters. 

I loved Harry Styles. 

Harry Styles loved me. 

That was all I needed to know. 

It was the one thing no one could take from us.


End file.
